Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/50989
COMMUNIQUÉ Educators see significant wins in court Educators, represented by the ISEA legal team, won two recent court cases. The first case received national attention when the Iowa Court of Appeals ordered the Allamakee Community School District to remove two reprimands from the journalism advisor's personnel file for material that appeared in the April Fool's Day 2008, and September 30, 2009, editions of the student newspaper. The April Fool's Day paper was a parody that the administration found offensive. The September paper used a photo of a baby smoking a cigarette to illustrate a story about school tobacco policy which the superintendent said encouraged illegal smoking among students. The court ruled that an Iowa law passed in 1989 (Section 280.22, Code of Iowa) gives students greater free-speech rights than those afforded under the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. That 1988 decision granted school administrators the broad right to censor student publications "for legitimate pedagogical reasons." The November 9 decision of the Iowa Court of Appeals was the first time an American court has interpreted a state law granting students broad press rights according to the Arlington, Va.-based Student Press Law Center. As explained in a story posted by the Associated Press, Iowa's law grants students at public schools the right to publish without administration censorship as long as the material is not obscene or libelous and does not encourage students to break the law, violate school regulations, or cause substantial and material disruption to school operations. The ISEA filed a lawsuit last year on behalf of the advisor asking a judge to conclude the newspaper issues did not violate the law, and to order the district to expunge permanently the reprimands from the advisor's personnel file. In January, a district court judge ruled that the district acted within its authority when it reprimanded the advisor for content that encouraged students to violate laws and policies. The 3-0 appeals court decision overturned that ruling and held that the publications did not violate the Iowa Student Free Expression Law (Section 280.22 of the Iowa Code). Therefore, allowing districts to punish advisers for allowing the publication of material authorized by Iowa law would chill student free-speech rights. Gerald Hammond, an attorney with the Iowa State Education Association who represented the advisor, said the decision correctly interpreted the intent of the law and gave clear guidance to school districts. "When we saw the actions taken by administrators in northeast Iowa, we felt the district went beyond its discretion by reprimanding the advisor for allowing what students had a right to publish," said Hammond. "That's what the case was about." For more details read the full Associated Press article at www.firstamendmentcenter.org. The school district has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals ruling, and a decision of whether a review will be granted is pending. The second case involved a head football coach in northeast Iowa whose contract was recommended 3 IN THIS ISSUE OPINION The path to true education reform. 7 for termination by the superintendent. While the district purported to base its decision to terminate on such factors as lack of participation of upperclassmen and failure to establish a successful weight program, the court found that both these reasons were not supported by the evidence. Rather, the court found that the testimony established the termination was "based primarily upon" the recent win-loss record of the coach. The court found that to be an impermissible basis for the termination because it violated the philosophy of the school district activities program which promoted the goal of developing well-rounded individuals, and encouraged participation by all students. Further, the written statement of the responsibilities of coaches was silent on win-loss records, and no evaluations were conducted when the win-loss record began to slip. On December 2, the Iowa Supreme Court denied the district's request for the Iowa Supreme Court to review the case. The Court of Appeals decision is now final, and the coach is now entitled to reinstatement and back pay. A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – DEC/JAN 2012 – Vol. 49, No. 3 EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION Award winners. 9 LEGISLATIVE ISEA 2012 Legislative Initiatives